Kool G Rap Interview.........

[Sir Hambone]

Cant wait till his shit drops.....

THE BEST
By Jigsaw


PROLOGUE TO KOOL G RAP : THIS IS AN EDITORIAL
Understand, I mean no disrespect. By the same token, I would appreciate if you, the hip hop community, would set aside your programmed notion of who the "best" rapper is. Please release yourself from the conditioning via radio spins, corporate marketing, your fleeting childhood, record sales and other concepts that confuse you. Being the best has to do with none of that. The following does.

Tell me what rapper has been killin’ from 1984 until 2001 and has never spit a wack verse. What rapper lyrically competed (and survived) in the acclaimed Golden Era of Rap along the likes of Big Daddy Kane and Rakim? What rapper pioneered the New York State of mind style of street hip hop (before Criminal Minded)? Who’s style of hip hop is most alive today, heavily influencing the modern greats like Nas, B.I.G., Big Pun, Canibus and others? There is only one name that answers every one of these questions.

KOOL G RAP.

Earlier than people care to recall, G Rap united the thugged out mentality with the rapid-fire, yet fluid flow. Truly, he was the first volcanic emcee, the hard rock that could (and can) flow with anybody, from any period in hip hop. G Rap’s journey has not been without valleys, but there has never been a question of his lyrical mauling of competion, even though some of the beats couldn’t compete. Road to the Riches. Wanted Dead or Alive. Live and Let Die. 456. Roots of Evil. And now, through a deal with Rawkus Records, Kool G Rap births The Giacana Story, his most anticipated album ever.

We spoke with G, who is calm, cool and collected about his position in the game. (Even though we weren’t. You better recognize the best! - Jigsaw)

Allhiphop.com: You have never seemed to get bitter when the chips were down even though you are certainly one, if not the best ever.

Kool G Rap: I’m one of those people that never let anger chew me up inside. If I stumble, fall or whatever, I just get right back up. Whatever. Anger takes a lot of energy out of you and it messes up your focus. I just focus on doing me.

What did you learn from the Roots of Evil album? Anything?

Definitey. I got to, for the first time, learn the business side of it. On a hands on basis. I learn about marketing and promotion. To me, it was a good album - one of my best albums, to me. (Lack of marketing and promotion) was the reason the project didn’t do what we expected it to do. What it did do is, it let everybody in the new millenium or everybody about to come in the new millenium, hear what G Rap is sounding like.

I got the album and feel it is easily one of the tightest. I turned people on to it that didn’t know it was out. Song like "Thug Love Story (Parts I, II & III)" and "Let The Games Begin" has real ill lyrics. Do you ever feel like, "Damn, they missed them."

Yeah, like a lot of people come up to me like, that last album was crazy. I know the masses didn’t hear it. You just have to keep moving on. You know what I’m sayin’?

I know you got this deal with Rawkus. How are they treating you up there?

(laughs) As far as me, they treat me good. I don’t have any bad feelings about the label or nothing like that. They are like a different label to deal with. I’m a street artist and they aren’t a label known for putting out street artists. Our ideas and opinions clash. So that’s the only kind of problems I go through with Rawkus. Other than that, financially and otherwise, they stay real supportive.

You are generally humble, but "First Nigga" had you poppin’ shit to remind cats?

Yeah, like "Who brought you that street shit."

Like you said in that song, "you are an 80s cat rippin’ it." What’s your view on hip hop, from your classics to now.

It was more lyrical then. You know? The brothers that were considered the best rapping were all lyrical. G Rap. Big Daddy Kane. Rakim. Krs-One. It was about lyrics then. Not taking nothing away from the cats today, because there is a lot of lyrical brothers today, you know? They are talented. But as far as what sells, it’s more fashion now.

Do you ever feel that you are too lyrical. You got cats that have the slow flow, gangsta style, but nobody is spittin’ like you nowadays. Your approach is a little more complex.

Oh, definitely. That’s why I learned to tone it down a little bit and make songs instead of records. Some joints on the album, I still rep. That’s for people that like to hear G Rap just go crazy and spit raw lyrics. As far as being a businessman, you have to put together songs too.

Mcs in general don’t like to do those radio joints. I mean the die-hard lyicists.

Doing something that plays on the radio is not necessarily have to be an R&B person singing on the hook or real happy sort of production. You hear some of the stuff on the radio (laughs), its just that fine line - to be right in the middle. You can attract the mainstream audience and still be you - your raw, rugged self. Whatever.

What’s your key to longevity?

A love for the game. If you got true love for the game in your heart...If you got somebody in the game that’s hot and sounds good, and that still moves you, you got love for the game. You can do well as an artist. Soon as you start doing this shit to pay the bills and all that, that’s when it’s basically over.

Have you had any frustatated periods in your life?

Yeah, definitely! Many times (I’ve been) like "I don’t even want to do this shit no more."

When was that? Because there have been a few slumps in your career where cats weren’t really checkin’ for you.

Yeah. About the 456 album, I wasn’t really into it no more. I was really getting tired, you know what I’m saying? To that was like my weakest album.

We have a lot of older school cats coming, like your man Big Daddy Kane. Is hip hop coming full circle?

Yeah, I heard Kane got some fire too. (laughs) To me, you can only let yourself play out.

You are still living in Arizona, right? I hear cats mumbling about you are out of touch being away from the city.

I recorded my whole last album in Arizona, except for a few cuts. My heart is still in New York. It’s a frame of mind.

How do you feel about the young cats that haven’t heard the "Symphony" and think Biggie was the first to spit New York gangsta shit?

That’s because of the times. Kids that are like 14-15, they don’t know too much about G Rap like that. Except for the features for the last 2 years or so. They don’t really know what made people praise G Rap the way they do, or whatever. They don’t know the foundation. They don’t know that before G Rap, they weren’t talking about selling drugs in the street, murdering. they weren’t doing nothing relating to the streets. They were talking about making new dances.

What's up with your seeds?

Things are good. I got three sons, 13, 11 and 4.

How do they feel about Dad?

They loving that they children of G Rap, somebody that everybody praises.

Any of them trying to rhyme?

Nah, they moms isn’t going for that. She got their face in the books. She wants them to focus on doing good in school, use his intelligence, but first things is first.

G Rap rhymes like he is starving. Do you feel you are in a "make or break’ situation with this album?

Oh yeah. Nobody don’t want to have nothing to do with nobody that ain’t hot right now.

Where does the fire come from. You were on song after song after song for a minute. Were you eating off the features?

That definitely kept me eating, because they were coming in at a mile a minute. Man, I musta been doing 40-50 grand a month off features.

Gotdamn

[Top-Dogg2001]

Dope interview. This needs to be bumped so everyone can read it